Kin Network Taps Former Viacom Exec as it Expands Revenue Team

Kin, the female-focused lifestyle entertainment company, is expanding its revenue team with two new hires.

The media company announced Thursday the hire of digital media sales veteran George Stewart, who joins the company as Chief Revenue Officer, and Carrie Cochran, who will fill the role of VP of Brand Partnerships.

In her new role, Cochran, who previously served as vice president of digital brand sales at Viacom, will focus on selling Kin’s network model in the Midwest. During her 10-year stint at Viacom, Cochran was responsible for developing and managing digital and social sales strategies for Nickelodeon, CMT and TV Land.

As Chief Revenue Officer, Stewart will be responsible for all revenue at Kin, including media, brand content, e-commerce and licensing. He will also be in charge of developing and creating new revenue streams for the company. Stewart began his career on the brand side as a marketing manager at ConAgra Foods and later worked at the online music startup LAUNCH.com, where he was VP of Advertising Sales before the company was acquired by Yahoo. Most recently, Stewart served as SVP of Advertising Sales at Next New Networks, where he helped develop and sell some of the first online video series distributed across social media and video sites including YouTube and Yahoo.

The new executive hires come as Kin ramps up its offerings to brands and partners as an extension of the momentum built with the success of its shows. In May, Kin made a commitment to launch 20 new digital channels by the end of next year. With that goal in mind, over the past several months, the entertainment company has launched a slate of digital series across Facebook and YouTube that include “Pretty Delicious,” a how-to cooking series; “Homeworks,” a show that teaches viewers how to create stylish and affordable home decor; and “Tia Mowry’s Quick Fix,” which features hacks that are intended help women solve “life’s little dilemmas,” from quick ideas for a weeknight meal to beauty tips. According to Kin, “Tia Mowry’s Quick Fix” has garnered as many as eight million viewers per episode. The company also recently announced the addition of new digital talent to the network including Jordin Sparks, JoJo Fletcher and Jordan Rodgers.

Kin’s growing network of digital channels is aimed at a demo the company calls “Builders,” which it describes as a huge and coveted untapped subset of millennials– with a core demo of 25-34 year-olds who are building their careers, families and homes.

You don’t get to the top of the D-list without picking a few fights first. Kathy Griffin is both adored and reviled for her outspokenness and provocative comedy. Along with her vocal dislike of President Trump — as exemplified by an infamous photo of her posing with the likeness of his decapitated head — she’s had it out with many in the GOP and media. Here are some of the biggest feuds in which Griffin has engaged — some of which date back to before the Trump incident.

In the wake of the Les Moonves sexual misconduct scandal at CBS, Griffin wrote a Twitter thread directed at Moonves’ wife Julie Chen. Griffin said she would love to be a guest on Chen’s show but changed her mind after hearing from her own acquaintances “how Julie has treated people.” She then revealed she sent Chen a text saying, “F— you and your misogynistic husband. You two deserve each other.” Griffin went on to report she heard Moonves would not consider a woman to replace Craig Ferguson for “The Late Late Show” hosting gig.

Griffin gave a blunt response when she received an interview request from Tomi Lahren’s people at Fox News. “Go f— yourself.” Griffin shared a screencap of an email she received from the right-wing firebrand’s people and captioned it, “You and your network told me my career was over and that I was irrelevant. Now you want to interview me.” Lahren responded in fashion, giving a taste at what would’ve surely been a fiery interview if it ever happened. “Thought maybe you’d like to discuss your Trump Derangement Syndrome on the most-watched cabe news network. Guess not! Have a nice day!”

Griffin fumed when she learned that Louis C.K. attempted to make his comeback by performing a brief stand-up set back in August. “You know how many talented women and POC comics are knocking on doors trying to get some time in front of audiences or powerful people in this business?” Griffin wrote in the first of five tweets. “And Louis just gets to glide back in on his own terms? Gosh, does it payoff to be in the boys club..the white boys club.”

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Donald Trump:

By far her most infamous feud, Griffin’s career was put on pause when she posed in a photo and video holding the likeness of President Donald Trump’s bloody, decapitated head. The fallout was swift, with Griffin losing her spot on CNN, among many other jobs. Griffin apologized, but later took back the apology in a rant condemning Trump’s family on “The View.” Trump appeared to continue the feud as Griffin said she’d been detained at every international airport she’d visited since posting the photo. “The shows were cancelled because the President of the United States and his family were offended by an image I released and decided to unleash an army on me,” she said.

Griffin’s face has appeared in numerous GOP campaign ads as a symbol of the liberal Hollywood resistance against Trump. NRATV, the National Rifle Association’s media arm, used footage of Griffin to misleadingly suggest she had adopted Trump’s “Build the Wall” policy on immigration. Griffin took notice and called the network “stupid and embarrassing.”

Sarah Huckabee Sanders invoked Kathy Griffin’s name when asked about the cancellation of “Roseanne” and the president’s response to the news. “Where was the apology for Kathy Griffin going on a profane rant against the president on ‘The View’ after a photo showed her holding President Trump’s decapitated head,” Sanders said during a White House press briefing. Griffin pushed back hard. “B—, do not come for me. I did not call you,” Griffin wrote in a tweet containing a snippet of the briefing that mentioned her. “And for f—‘s sake, take a cold reading class, maybe you won’t stumble so much.”

The Donald isn’t the only Trump who Griffin has feuded with. Griffin took a swipe at Melania Trump’s #BeBest anti-bullying campaign when Melania called Griffin’s decapitation photo “very disturbing.” “#BeBest – When your husband is an erratic whack job who tweets crazy s— and actually puts the country in danger and you take the time as First Lady to question a photo of a comic holding a halloween mask and ketchup.”

Griffin has railed on Harvey Levin and TMZ on several occasions. In the wake of her decapitation photo fallout, she accused Levin of being in bed with Trump. “They have done hit pieces on me to the point where it’s actually affected my career,” she said. “Harvey Levin, have you ever done anything honorable, ever?” She also criticized the outlet for their coverage of how fellow comedian Lisa Lampanelli combatted a heckler at a show. TMZ referred to the incident as a “nuclear meltdown,” and Griffin said this was indicative of how TMZ treated all women and people of color in their coverage.

Andy Cohen was tapped to replace Kathy Griffin in her CNN New Year’s co-hosting gig, but the two also traded jabs in 2017. Cohen was Griffin’s boss at Bravo while her show “My Life on the D-List” was on the air, and she’s appeared on his talk show twice, but in an interview he repeatedly pretended he didn’t know her. Griffin called him “deeply misogynistic” in response. She later escalated the feud by saying Cohen twice offered her cocaine before appearing on the show (Cohen denied it) and by sharing a text from someone who had been in a relationship with Cohen. Cohen “is a small guy, not just in height,” the message read, taking a jab at his manhood.

Kathy Griffin and Joan Rivers were very close, even though they disagreed politically. But that mutual respect didn’t transfer over between Griffin and Rivers’s daughter Melissa. Griffin was chosen to replace Rivers on the E! show “Fashion Police” after her death, but then quickly departed. Melissa Rivers eventually responded by saying that Griffin had “s— all over” her mother’s legacy. “By calling the comedy and the style of it old-fashioned. It was like, I understand what you were doing, you’re trying to save yourself, but don’t crap all over my mother to do it,” Rivers said.

On “Seinfeld,” Griffin played an up-and-coming comedian named Sally who got her big break by making fun of Jerry on stage. The two comics had another feud in real life, though it was all in good fun. Griffin said that after she had poked fun at Seinfeld in a routine, Seinfeld sent her a package and letter as a prank that she said gave her “instant diarrhea.” “I mean, I made it to the bathroom, but just barely,” Griffin joked.

Griffin has been banned from several talk shows, but her most prominent would be a lifetime ban from “The View,” which she once guest hosted. In her stand-up routine, Griffin joked that Howard Stern had wanted to have sex with host Barbara Walters, which led to her being barred from the show. “She will cut a b—,” Griffin joked on Conan.

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Comedian of “My Life on the D-List” has earned the ire of many in media and GOP

You don’t get to the top of the D-list without picking a few fights first. Kathy Griffin is both adored and reviled for her outspokenness and provocative comedy. Along with her vocal dislike of President Trump — as exemplified by an infamous photo of her posing with the likeness of his decapitated head — she’s had it out with many in the GOP and media. Here are some of the biggest feuds in which Griffin has engaged — some of which date back to before the Trump incident.